Long-distance Trains Leaving Lake County Behind

BAY LAKE — Amtrak's Silver Star, a twice-daily Miami-to-New York train, glides at nearly 80 mph through the southwest corner of Lake County, and rarely disturbs a soul.

Locomotive engineer Robert Sweat said the passage is one of his most pleasurable. Wild turkeys, deer and alligators slip past the locomotive during early morning runs.

A petition by the track's owner, CSX Transportation, to abandon 41 miles of track in Sumter, Lake and Polk counties becomes effective today. CSX plans to move Amtrak west to another track by early next month and remove the rail and crossties soon afterward, according to a CSX spokesman.

The petition to abandon the track -- which includes about 15 miles in Lake County -- probably will create more enthusiasm than opposition. Supporters of Florida's Rails-to-Trails program, which buys abandoned track for recreation uses, already are rubbing their hands in glee. But an era of ''Class A'' railroad, for long-distance haulers, will come to a close in Lake County.

Older maps show a spiderweb of railroad tracks that once spread to all corners of Lake County -- an indication of the once extensive reliance on railroads. CSX Transportation, Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Line, Seaboard Airline Railroad, and other national lines have been a part of Lake County for most of this century.

A recently published history book, Clermont: Gem of the Hills, says that rail was once the main form of travel to the county seat. ''Because traveling to Tavares by wagon or car was slow and difficult on the pine straw road, most people took the T.and G. Railroad, jokingly called the ''Tug and Grunt.'' They could take a morning train, get their business taken care of in Tavares, and return on the evening train.''

The drive by car today lasts all of 20 minutes, and improved highway transportation has been blamed for the demise of railroads. During their peak, trains used 270,000 miles of track in the nation. That mileage has dropped to less than 150,000, and every year about 3,500 miles of track are abandoned.

Abandoned railroad lines often are purchased for the widening of highways. The Florida Department of Transportation plans to buy abandoned track along part of U.S. Highway 441 and State Road 19.

Short-line railroads have also bought some of the track in Lake County that CSX no longer wanted. The Pinsly Railroad Co., of Westfield Mass., bought 60 miles of track between north Orlando and Umatilla. It is now called the Florida Central Railroad.

Pinsly also has bought 15 miles of track between Leesburg and Wildwood, along with 25 miles of track in Polk County, which together has become the Florida Midland Railroad.

The two short-line railroads haul freight from Lake County to main CSX lines. Company officials say that the Midland and Central railroads prosper because of their cheaper labor costs and because they pay closer attention to customers.

Lindsay Leckie, CSX Rail Transport spokesman, said CSX is in favor of selling unprofitable track to the short-line railroads when possible. The alternative is to abandon and sell the right of way, he said.

''Sometimes it is a painful process for a community but for us it is a program of survival,'' he said.

Leckie said the track to be abandoned -- 41 miles between Center Hill in Sumter County and Auburndale in Polk County -- was first laid in the early 1920s under the name of Florida Western and Northern Railroad.

In 1925, the name was changed to Seaboard -- All Florida Railway, and the first passenger to be carried over the track arrived in Miami on Jan. 8, 1927. There has been no delivery or collection of any freight or passengers in more than two years between Center Hill and Auburndale, he said, adding that a parallel CSX track 20 miles to the west carries most of the traffic.

The CSX plan to abandon the Center Hill-Auburndale track is especially appealing to Rails-to-Trails officials, which turns abandoned track into paths for hiking, biking and horseback riding.

''It is an extraordinary path through the wetlands of the Green Swamp,'' said Mary Ann Twyford, the senior trails planner at the state's Division of Recreation and Parks. ''At one point there is only one access to 30 miles of track. You can really be in the wilds.''

Twyford said the Division of Recreation and Parks has asked the Interstate Commerce Division to prohibit CSX from removing bridges, culverts and crushed rock from the track for at least 180 days. That will give Rails-to-Trails time to buy the track.

Engineer Sweat doubts Amtrak passengers will notice the change but he will. ''I hate to see it happen,'' he said. ''It's one of the least inhabited areas we have. Who knows, I might be on the last train through.''